Is She A Victim?

There is a news report out of Minnesota, about Lois K. Feldman, 38, and Ross M. Walsh, 26, who were ticketed for indecent conduct after they were reportedly caught engaging in sexual activity in a men's restroom handicapped stall during the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers game with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

I read this story and one that followed in which Ms. Feldman said her life was ruined because of this incident. In fact, she has been fired from her job because of it. According to her husband, and the police report, she had had several glasses of wine before going to the restroom. Once the police was called, she at first gave them a phony name, trying to hide her true identity.

So now she claims to be a victim?

I don't know about you, but I have drank to excess before, and I can guarantee that even during those times, I knew what was going on. Ms. Feldman is claiming that she doesn't remember going into the bathroom, claims that perhaps her drink(s) were drugged, and that she is perhaps a victim of foul play.

I believe what she is, is a victim of her own foolishness. Here are my reasons:

1. More than a dozen people in the restroom were cheering Feldman and Walsh by the time authorities arrived, a University of Minnesota Police report says.
   
2. She gave Police a false name at the beginning.
3. Ms. Feldman made no allegations to the officers at the scene about it being non-consensual.
4. The witnesses at the scene said the sex had been going on for a while and no one was saying "No." or "Stop."

Ms. Feldman says in her defense:

"I would never ever do that," Feldman said. "My kids are my life. I go to church every Sunday."

I talked to my wife about this and what she said was a little eye opening. She thinks that the behavior shown here by Ms. Feldman is something that either had been going on for a while, or there are deeper issues here that she should address. Either way, I personally believe she knew what was going on, and is completely embarrassed about being caught and bringing shame to herself and her family.

I believe there is a victim here in this story but the victim is not Mrs. Feldman. The victims are her husband and children.

Shame on you Mrs. Feldman. Accept the responsibility for your actions and go forward in life.

I will say that she and her family will be in my prayers. I hope you will pray for them as well.

It Was A Black Friday After All -- Death in Long Island

This day, the day after Thanksgiving, is one that quite a few people here in America use to shop for gifts and things for Christmas. At least that is what the idea is. Merchants use this day to gauge how holiday sales will be for the season. People will camp out up to two days before to be able to buy cheap electronics, toys, and what have you. It is also a day in which people become something other than human when it comes to bargain shopping.

I haven't been on the computer much for the last couple of days, but when I checked the news stories I was horrified to hear of a Walmart worker dying this morning in Long Island, New York.

The 34-year-old employee, a temporary maintenance worker, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."

The unidentified victim was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., police said.

Not only were the two Walmart workers involved, but a pregnant woman was trampled and had to be taken to the hospital as well.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was knocked to the floor during the mad rush. She was hospitalized for observation, police said. Early witness accounts that the woman suffered a miscarriage were unfounded, police said.

There is a video showing efforts to resusitate the man. I am including it here in this post.



It is a sad thing indeed when greed, greed for the best bargain around is the one thing we exhibit instead of the giving and caring nature we should be showing. I will be praying for this man's family, for the loss they are facing, and will continue to face. I would ask that everyone do the same.

You can read the entire story here.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving today! I will be spending most of my time with my family this day and being thankful to God for them.

Spend time today with your friends and family and if you do read this, let me know what you are thankful for.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving!

A Thankful Thankgiving Story

What if you were by yourself at Thanksgiving? Monique White, who lives in Littleton, Colorado found herself in just that position as her two sons are spending the holidays with their father. So what did she do? She decided to post an ad on Craigslist advertising for a couple of people to join her and her friend for Thanksgiving dinner.

She will be having 32 people join her for that dinner.

The best part of this is that at this time last year, she was living in a motel and looking for work, and this year she lives in a townhome and works as a receptionist.

This is such a great story and I am happy to pass it on.

You can read the entire story here.

Christmas Grinches

From now until Christmas, I am going to write posts on how certain people try to ruin Christmas for everyone else. I am going to start it with the lawyers of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, from a story I came across here.

The gist of the story is that the city officials of Louisville, Kentucky wanted to use the characters from the beloved Dr. Seuss story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" as part of its theme for the annual Light Up Louisville holiday celebration. However, a cease-and-desist letter from the law firm DLA Piper, which represents Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said the "Who-ville" name and image, as well as the Grinch, are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.

The letter demanded the city and the Louisville Convention and Visitors' Bureau halt any use of the characters for the Christmas display and agree not to use the characters in the future without permission. It threatened legal action if the city and tourism bureau did not comply.

Kerri Richardson, a spokeswoman for Abramson, said the city complied with the request and renamed the display "Lou-ville."

Now, I know of some of my neighbors who use some of these same characters in their Christmas displays here in my neighborhood. I wonder how long it will be before the Who-ville lawyers show up at their doors.

I suppose the hearts of those at Dr. Seuss Enterprises are really two sizes two small after all.

First Christmas, Now Thanksgiving?

How pathetic is it that a small minority of people can try and ruin a holiday for children. No I am not talking about Christmas this time but Thanksgiving.

I stumbled across a story from the LA Times today that told of a 40 year tradition between two elementary schools, where students from one kindergarten would dress up as pilgrims, and the other kindergarten students would dress up as Native Americans and they would have a Thanksgiving feast at the school hosting it. I personally believe this is a really nice way of remembering history and teaching the children what happened at that time.

However, in our politically correct world, certain parents, some of whom are of Native American descent, feel this is portraying a cartoonish version of that time.

"It's demeaning," Michelle Raheja, the mother of a kindergartner at Condit Elementary School, wrote to her daughter's teacher. "I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history."

Raheja, whose mother is a Seneca, wrote the letter upon hearing of a four-decade district tradition, where kindergartners at Condit and Mountain View elementary schools take annual turns dressing up and visiting the other school for a Thanksgiving feast. This year, the Mountain View children would have dressed as Native Americans and walked to Condit, whose students would have dressed as Pilgrims.

Raheja, an English professor at UC Riverside who specializes in Native American literature, said she met with teachers and administrators in hopes that the district could hold a public forum to discuss alternatives that celebrate thankfulness without "dehumanizing" her daughter's ancestry.

"There is nothing to be served by dressing up as a racist stereotype," she said.

Some parents however, take a different viewpoint about this:

Kathleen Lucas, a Condit parent who is of Choctaw heritage, said her son -- now a first-grader -- still wears the vest and feathered headband he made last year to celebrate the holiday.

"My son was so proud," she said. "In his eyes, he thinks that's what it looks like to be Indian."

Among the costume supporters, there is a vein of suspicion that casts Raheja and others opposed to the costumes as agenda-driven elitists. Of the handful of others who spoke with Raheja against the costumes at the board meeting, one teaches at the University of Redlands, one is an instructor at Riverside Community College, and one is a former Pitzer College professor.

Raheja is "using those children as a political platform for herself and her ideas," Constance Garabedian said as her 5-year-old Mountain View kindergartner happily practiced a song about Native Americans in the background. "I'm not a professor and I'm not a historian, but I can put the dots together."

Some parents still plan on letting their children dress up.

The debate is far from over. Some parents plan to send their children to school in costume Tuesday -- doubting that administrators will force them to take them off. The following day, some plan to keep their children home, costing the district attendance funds to punish them for modifying the event.

"She's not going to tell us what we can and cannot wear," said Dena Murphy, whose 5-year-old son attends Mountain View. "We're tired of [district officials] cowing down to people. It's not right."

As I read later, there was an update to this story. Parents did send their children to the schools dressed up, and yes, there were protests on both sides.

Nearly two dozen protesters were stationed this morning in front of Condit Elementary School in Claremont, the site of a decades-old Thanksgiving tradition that is under fire because kindergartners dress up in handmade pilgrim and Native American costumes.


The protesters were evenly split between parents who supported the costumes and parents who opposed the outfits, and their discussion grew so heated that school officials called police, who separated the protesters on separate sidewalks, said Lt. Dennis Smith of the Claremont Police Department.

Police are also paying extra attention to Claremont schools Supt. David Cash's home, after he called police to report he was receiving hate e-mails and feared for his safety, Smith said. The e-mails did not rise to the level of criminal prosecution.

Cash and Condit principal Tim Northrop did not return phone calls seeking comment, but school employees reported that the commotion in front of the school was heated.

"It's been wild," said one woman who declined to give her name. Meanwhile, the kindergartners -- some of whom showed up wearing their banned costumes -- frolicked on the playground, eating, running and chattering with friends, Smith said. "The kids were oblivious," he added, "as they should be."

It's sad, that our children are the ones showing the way to act, and the way to live. If we were to live our lives as these kids, to see the world from their eyes, not seeing a 40 year tradition as demeaning, but as fun and full of learning and life, perhaps the world would be a much better place.

Black Friday At Amazon.com

Yes, I am doing a shameless plug here. Instead of waiting in line all night, shop from home and do this right! Click on the link and see if there is anything there for you.